Pain in the ear or otalgia or earache may make the patient very uncomfortable. It may increase on lying down due to increased blood supply in this position.
It may occur in external ear or middle ear. Inner ear does not cause pain, sometimes the pain occurs either due to a local cause or due to the involvement of nerves supplying the ear. Such pain is called as referred pain.
Sometimes the pain is neuralgic.
Causes of earache:-
• Impaction of wax
• Inflammation of ear
• Fungal infection
• Trauma (injury)
• Foreign body in the ear
• Tumour
• Eustachian catarrh
• Toothache
• Tooth – abscess
• Infections of oral cavity
• Sinusitis
• Nasal/throat infection
• Tuberculosis
• Herpes zoster
• Spondylosis etc.
Acupressure treatment of earache (otalgia):
Du 14, 20
TW 3, 5, 17, 21
LI 4, 11
Sp 6
SI 19
GV 2, 41
Reflex points: brain, ear.